The downside of gambling in Middleboro: Traffic, crime and problem gambling

Tuesday

Jul 24, 2007 at 12:01 AMJul 24, 2007 at 8:23 PM

There will be additional demand placed upon local police - be they in Taunton, Dighton, Raynham or Lakeville - as a result of traffic enforcement and the occasional crime committed by outsiders.

By Charles Winokoor

Steve Smith isn’t thrilled with the prospect of a resort casino opening in Middleboro.

For one thing, he said, there will be additional demand placed upon local police -- be they in Taunton, Dighton, Raynham or Lakeville -- as a result of traffic enforcement and the occasional crime committed by outsiders.

But the more immediate challenge, he said, will be to Route 44, an old, two-lane highway running from Rhode Island and through downtown Taunton, as it makes it way to Raynham, Lakeville and eventually Middleboro.

Smith, executive director of the Taunton-based Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District, or SRPEDD, said he expects his group will address the question of traffic originating from the greater Providence area, as the Mashpee Wampanoag leadership and the town of Middleboro edge closer to a final, negotiated agreement.

He recommends that if a casino does become a reality, then Taunton and towns directly outside of Middleboro -- such as Carver, Raynham and Lakeville -- negotiate with the tribe for “some kind of revenue sharing, according to where the burden falls.”

And that will only be achieved, Smith said, by presenting a unified front.

“It’s a regional impact so there’s no sense in doing it one on one; it will take a group effort.”

Clyde Barrow, director of the Center for Policy Analysis at University of Dartmouth, said he and his group got involved in studying the potential effects of casino gambling in the state back in 1996, when the Aquinnah Wompanoags proposed a gambling resort be built in New Bedford.

Barrow said that “all gambling,” whether it be in the Bay State or Rhode Island, has a significant impact on southeastern Massachusetts communities.

He said a study conducted by his center had found that 40 percent of the people who go to Rhode Island to gamble -- at Newport Grand Slots or Twin River casino, for example -- live in southeastern Massachusetts.

Like Smith, Barrow said the most immediate problem with a Middleboro casino will be handling the vehicular traffic, both on Route 44 and at the Middleboro circle, or rotary, adjacent to Route 495.

“Route 44 is already congested,” he noted.

Barrow said the population of surrounding towns and cities would increase as men and women take jobs at the resort/gambling facility, but added that, in itself, could prove to be a double-edged sword.

As those towns grow in size they’ll be forced to provide more municipal services, including schools, hospitals and infrastructure upgrades.

But at the same time, Barrow said, the demands of growth could be offset by an increase in local aid from the state, following the model of the state’s lottery fund.

The other gambling-related drawback of note, according to Barrow, is an anticipated “uptick in problem gambling.”

He said his research has shown that 2.6 percent, and possibly as high as 3.6 percent, of the surrounding community’s population will develop a gambling addiction.

Barrow said if the Mashpee Wamponoags and Middleboro come to an agreement for establishing a casino, but the state and/or Gov. Deval Patrick nixes approval, then all that will be possible at the site will be “a card room and bingo parlor.”

In a best case scenario, he said, it will take at least three years before a facility will be ready to open there.

But, Barrow added, the latest flurry of activity represents “more movement than I’ve seen in 10 or 12 years.”

Charles Winokoor of The Taunton (Mass.) Gazette can be reached at cwinokoor@tauntongazette.com.